Selector-switch.



H. F. noeemf SELECTOR SWITCH.

APPLICATION FILED men. 1915.

Patented Feb. 22, 1916.

3 SHEETSSHEET I.

THE COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH $10.. WASHINGTON. D.

H. F. DOBBIN.

SELECTOR SWITCH. APPLICATION FILED AUG.23. 1915.

1,172,585, Patented 11.. 22, 1916.

3 SHEETSSHEET 2- Henry F D aka/r1.

m-%- Q I WNW/732 H. F. DOBBIN.

SELECTOR SWITCH.

APPLlCATION FILED AUG-23,1915.

Patented Feb. 22, 1916.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

' Henry f." Dobk/n.

W Q i clear, concise, and exact description.

ITED STATES PATENT oEE-Io.

HENRY E. DOBBIN, 0 NEW YORK, N. .Y., ASSIGNOR, BY MEsNE ASSIGNMENTS, TowEsTERN ELECTRIC COMPANY, INCORPORATED, A CORPORATION or NEW YORK.

v s LEoToR-swITcR.

Specification of Letters Patent.

PatentedFeb. 22,1916.

Application filed August 23, 1915." Serial No. 46,855.

I of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inSelector- Switches, of which the following is a full,

This invention relates to automatic switches of the type employed'intelephone exchanges. v

The principal minal selecting switch of a structure wherein each brushset may be caused to traverse a selected one of a plurality of groups orseries of terminals. 7 f

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of one embodiment of theinvention with parts broken away; Fig. 2 is a section on the line 2-2 ofFig. 1 Fig. 3 is a section on the line 33 of Fig. 1; Fig. 4 is a planview diagrammatically illustrating a panel bank and the switches, onebeing mounted on each side of said bank; Fig. 5 is a side view of aportion of the bank; Fig. 6 is a side view of a portion of the bank onan enlarged scale; Fig. 7 is a section on the line 77 of Fig. 6; Fig. 8is a side elevation of a modified form of the invention; and Fig.

9 is a plan view of this modified structure. The switch shown in Figs.l'to 7 of the drawings is especially designed for use in a two-wiremultiple telephone, system such as that shown in an application ofCharles L. Goodrum, Serial No. 35,326,'filed June 21, 1915, and istherefore shown as having only two contacts in each terminal set andonly two brushes in each brush set. It is to be unprovidedfor eachbrush. These five brushes are spirally arranged about; the operatingshaft, each being associated with a separate section of the panel.

In the modification shown in Fig. 80f the drawings, but two sets ofbrushes are profeature of the invention resides in the provision of agroup and-ten a different section of the terminal bank.

These brushes are arranged one above the other, and project indiametrically opposite direction from each other. As seen'in Fig. 9 ofthe drawings, five groups or series of terminals are provided for eachbrush of this switch.

In the drawings, 1 (Fig. 1) represents the brush shaft upon which arefixed a plurality ofbrush sets 2. These sets, in the embodiment of theinvention shown in Fig. 1, are five in number and are spirally arrangedabout the shaft 1. Each set of brushes is arranged immediately below itsown individual section of thep'anel bank, as indicated by the upper setof brushes in Fig. 1. Each section of the panel bank is provided withtwo series or groups 3 and l of terminal sets (Figs. 1 and 5), either ofwhich may be traversed by the set of brushes associated therewith.Secured to the shaft 1 by means of the integral clamping members 5 arethe arms or cross members 6, to the rearwardly extending ends of whichare insulatively secured the two brushes of the brush sets 2. Theopposite end of each member 6 carries an insulating I member 7 (Fig. 4),which serves to maintain the brushes spaced apart and in a certainrelative angular position on the shaft. Each brush spring is provided atits rear extremityv with a soldering termi-- nal 8.

Mounted about the shaft, adjacent the up per end thereof, are aplurality of U-shaped contact members 9, the inner upwardly extendingportions of which are arranged to be engaged by the brush 10,insulatively secured to the'upper end of the shaft. These contacts 9 areten in number, one being provided for each rotary position of theswitch, and are symmetrically arranged about the shaft. The outerextremities of these contact members 9 areformed as soldering terminals11. Secured to the same frame member or support as that on which thecontacts 9 are mounted, but 'uponthe opposite side thereof, aresoldering terminals 12 for the multiple wiring of the several brush setsof the switch.

The operating-mechanism. for the brush shaft may be'of substantially thesame 'construction as that shown in an application of O.- F. Forsberg,Serial No.- 6,302, filed February 5, 1915, and will therefore be onlybriefly described herein.

Secured to "the shaft 1 is a gear wheel 13, which, when the shaft is initsnormal position, meshes witha gear wheel let fixed to the collar 32,which is rotatably mounted on the spindle 15 adjacent the lower end ofthe shaft 1. The collar 32 is provided with a ratchet wheel 16 arrangedto be engaged by the pawl 17, mounted on the armature 18 of the rotarystepping magnet 19. The ratchet wheel 16 is also arranged to be engagedby the holding pawl 20 formed as a projecting finger or strip. on theplate 21, which is rotatably mounted upon the pin 22. The shaft 1 isalso provided with a plurality of circular ratchet teeth 23. arranged tobe engaged by the pawl 24:, pivotally secured to the armature 25 of thevertical stepping magnet 26.

A vertical holding pawl 27 is provided which is arranged to engage thecircular ratchet teeth 23 and hold the shaft against downward motion.The pawl 27 is formed as an integral part of the plate 2,8 pivotallymounted on the pin 22. Plates 28 and 21 are formed with projectingportions 29 and 30 respectively, which overlap in such a manner thatupon retraction of the pawl 20, pawl 27, is also moved out of engagementwith its ratchet.

Mounted about the spindle 15,. is a coil spring 31. One end of thisspring is secured to said spindle, and the other end is secured to. thesleeve 32 of which the ratchet wheel 16 and the gear wheel 15 areintegral portions. The spring 81 tends, to return the gear 14: to itsnormal position, when the ratchet 16 is released by the pawl 20. Thegear 13 is rigidly mounted on the shaft 1, and upon the beginning of theupward travel of the shaft it, passes out of engagement with the gear14. The gear 141-, however, is maintained in its adjusted position bythe pawl 20 until the return of the switch shaft to its normal position,when the pawl. 20 willbe retracted by means not herein shown.

The terminal bank employed with this switch is of somewhat unusualconstruction. The individual terminals are formed as projections ofterminal strips in a manner similar to that shown in patent to A. F.Dixon, N 0. 1,127,741. The modification in the panel structure isnecessitated by the fact that two series or groups of contacts arearranged to be traversed by the same set of brushes, and as the switchis always raised to the same height by a certain number of steps, theterminals of both sets at a corre-. sponding level or position must; beat the same height.

Referring to Fig. 6., it will be noted that all the contacts of the twoterminal sets at the top of this figure are arranged on the samehorizontal line, the projections forming the contacts of the set at theleft being offset upwardly, while the projections forming the contactset at the right are offset downwardly. The mannerin which this offsetis produced is clearly shown in Fig. 7.

Referring again to Fig. 6, it will be seen that the first terminal onthe left is formed as an integral portion of the fourth terminal stripfrom the top. The other contact forming the other terminal of this setis offset from the third strip from the top, but to a. lesser degree.The left-hand contact of the right set is offset downwardly from thesecond plate from the top, while the righthand contact of the right setis, offset from the first plate and to a greater degree than the leftcontact. By this, means. the corresponding contacts of the sets in thetwo series are brought into the same plane by a simple punchingoperation of the contact terminal strips.

WVhile each series of contact sets is shown as, being ten in number, itis. understood that as many contacts as desired may be pro vided in eachseries. However, if only ten be used, the switch may be operated on astrictly decimal basis, as with five brushes. each brush having accessto two series of contacts of ten each, a switch having a capacity of onehundred lines is provided.

It may be here noted that to facilitate the engagement of the brusheswith the contacts in the terminal bank, the contacts of the lefthandseries, looking at the bank, are inclined slightly toward the right,while those of the right-hand series incline slightly toward the left.The reason for this will be obvious from an inspection of Fig. 4: of thedrawings.

Referring now to the modifications shown in Figs. 8 and 9 of thedrawings, 33 represents the switch shaft, upon which are mounted thesets 34: of the brushes. These brush sets are insulatively supported on.the shaft in any desired manner. They project in diametrically oppositedirections and are spaced apart vertically a distance equal. to tencontact sets. Five series of contacts. are provided for each brush, onebrush being arranged to pass out of relation to the last series ofcontacts of its section of the contact bank at the instant the otherpasses. into operative relation to the first series of contacts in itssection of the bank.

The contacts of the various sets are arranged in an arcuate panel in anydesired manner, the form of the panel being immaterial, except that eachsection shall be provided with five vertical rows of terminals, which inthe present embodiment of the invention comprise ten contacts for eachrow or series. This switch may be provided with the same operatingmechanism as that shown in Fig. 1 of the drawings. It may also beprovided with the same group testing terminal and brush structure asshown" at the top of Fig. 1. I

Referring to the modification shown n Figs. 1t0 7 of therdrawings, itmay be noted.

that when in itsv-normalposition the fifth brush of the switch, whichmay be either the fifth from-the bottom or'the fifth from the top,willbein operative relation to its right series of contacts as series-I, Fig. 4c of'the drawings. Thus, if one impulse be sent through therotary switch magnet 19, the

first brush of the switch will be brought into series of contacts; ifthree impulses be trans mitted, the second brush will be brought into 7operative relation to its left series of contacts, and so on, each ofthe brushes from 1 to 5, PZLSSlDgSUCCGSSlVGlY first 1n operativerelation to its right andthen in operative relation to its left seriesof contacts, and passing out of. operative relation to its right seriesof contacts as the next brush moves into operative relation to its leftseries of contacts. After the desired brush set and its series ofcontacts have been selected, the brushes in the selected set will becaused to traverse the terminals in the selected series in any desiredmanner; in the present disclosure, by the operation of the verticalstepping magnet 26. The manner of release is not shown in the presentdisclosure, as it forms no part of the present invention, the steppingand release mechanism being the same as that shown in the abovementioned application to O. F. Forsberg.

The operation of this structure as a line finder will be as follows:Upon the initiation of a call on a line, one of the contacts 9 at thetop of Fig. 1 would be supplied with seeking potential; also interruptedcurrent will be'caused to passthrough the rotary stepping magnet 19. llhen the brush 10 at the top of the shaft 1 engages the contact 9corresponding to the group of terminals in which the calling lineterminates,

means will be operated to interrupt the flow of current throughmagnet'19 and cause interrupted current to pass through the magnet 26.The selected set of brushes will now be moved along the contacts in theselected series. When the brushes of the seto rest on the contacts ofthe calling line. This may be accomplished in a manner similar to thatdisclosed in the above mentioned Goodrum application.

. The switch shown in Figs. 8 and 9 of the drawings will operate in amanner identical with that shown in Figs. 1 .to 7, except that from theprinciple of the invention, the applicant desires it to be understoodthat the invention is to be limited merely by the scope of the claims.

"What is claimed is:

1. In an automatic switch, a brush support, a plurality of brushes onsaid support, a plurality of series of contacts arranged to betraversedby each brush, means for moving said support initially to select a brushand associate it with the desired one of its series of contacts, andmeans for moving said support secondarily to cause the select,- ed brushto traverse the contacts in the selected series of contacts.

2. In an automatic switch, a brush support, a plurality of brushes onsaid support,

a plurality of series of contacts arranged to be traversed byeach brush,means for moving said support in one directlon to select a brush andassociate it with the desired one of its series of contacts, and meansfor moving said support in a different direction to cause the selectedbrush to traverse thecontacts in the selected series of contacts.

8. In an automatic switch, a brush shaft, a plurality of brushes fixedto said shaft, a plurality of series of contacts arranged to betraversed by each brush, means for rotating said shaft to select a brushand associate it with a desired one of its series of contacts, and meansfor moving said shaft longitudinally to cause the selected brush totraverse the contacts in the selected series of contacts. I

4t. In an automatic switch, a brush shaft,

a plurality of brushes fixed to said shaft and spirally arrangedthereon, aplurality of series of contacts arranged to be traversed byeach brush, means for rotating said shaft to select a brush andassociate it with the desired one of its series of contacts, and meansfor moving said shaft longitudinally to cause the selected brush totraverse the contacts in the selected series of contacts.

5. In an automatic switch, a brush shaft, a plurality of brushes fixedto said shaft and spirally arranged thereon, a plurality of series ofcontacts arranged to be traversed by each brush, means for rotating saidshaft step by step to select a brush and associate it with a desired oneof its series of contacts, and means for inovlng said shaftlongitudinally step by step to cause the selected, brush to traverse thecontacts in the selected series of contacts.

6. In a contact bank, superposed strips of metal and insulation, andintegral contact portions projecting from said metal strips, the contactportions of a plurality of said metal strips being offset so as to liein the same plane.

'7. In a contact bank, superposed sets of terminal strips insulativelymounted in a bank, and contact portions projecting from each terminalstrip, the contacts of the strips of a set being ofi set so as to lie inthe same plane.

8. In a switch, superposed sets of terminal strips insulatively mountedin a bank, and integral portions forming switch contacts projecting fromeach strip, the contacts of alternate sets of strips being arranged indiiI-crent series or rows of contacts, and the contacts of thecorresponding contact sets of said series being off set from theirterminal strips so as to lie in the same plane.

In Witness whereof, I hereunto subscribe my name this 18th day ofAugust, A. D.

HENRY F. DOBBIN.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe, Commissioner of Baten ts Washington, D. G.

